Improved clothes-wringer



UNITED STATES PATEQTLQFFTE,

HIRAM NASH, OF GINCINN ATI, GBIC.

IMPROVED CLOTH ES-WRINGER.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent N0. 58,669, dated October 9, 1866.

To all whom fit may concern:

Beit known that I, HIRAM NASH, of Cincinnati, in the county ot' Hamilton and State ot' Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Clothes Vrin ging Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part ot' this speciiication.

Figure l is an elevation of my improved machine applied to a tub or washing-machine 5 Fig. 2, an'end elevation ot the same; Fig. 3,- a view of the inner plate of the case with the gearing situated inside; Fig. 4, perspective view ot'one side of the clamping arrangement, Fig. 5, a diagram showing the bar and spring for compressing the rollers.

Like letters ot'reterence indicate corresponding parts inall the figures.

My invention consists, essentially, in a box or case at the crank end of the machine, inclosing ank improved arrangement ot' gearing that insures a more perfect working of the rollers, and in the means of securing the machine to the tub or receptacle.

As represented in the drawings, A A are the standards, and B B the rubber rollers, which do not diiier essentially from the corresponding parts ot' other machines. The standards are provided with vertical slots a a, in which rest sliding bearings b b, that sustain the journals of the upper rollers. 0n the bearings b b rest the ends of a halt-elliptic spring, c, secured centrally to a cross-bar, C. This arrangement gives the necessary elasticity to the upper roller. The lower roller is stationary in position.

To the crank end ot' the machine is secured a metallic case, D, and to the opposite end a simple plate, D', which simply serves as a bearing for the journals d d of the rollers. The case is made of two parts, a plate f, having projecting ends g g, anda cover, h, fitting over it, and secured in place by screws t' t', or some equivalent means.

Within the case thus formed is situated a set of gears, consisting of two spur-wheels l 2, secured to the ends d d of the rollers, a third wheel, 3, engaging with 2, and a pinion, 4, on the shaft of crank E gearing into both l and 3. The wheels l 2 3 are of equal size, while pin ion 4 is but half' size of the others.

The case and plate D D are each provided with bearings L It", to receive the journals of the rollers, and the former also with bearings Z l, for the wheel and pinions 3 4. The bearings 7c, for the upper roller, are made of considerable extent, and concentric with the axis of pinion 4, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2. Thus arranged, the gears are held firmly in place in the case D, and can be removed only by design. They are theret'ore compelled to run true, however great the strain may be.

In ordinary wringing-machines much difticulty is experienced from the end action ot' the rollers. In my arrangement, by reason of the case D, there can be no ditliculty from this source, and no jarring or vibration. By being thus inclosed in the case, as described, the gears are less exposed to water than if open.

Gear-in g has been before employed in wringers, and in this broad application I do not claim it. In all such machines with which I am acquainted, however, the upper roller cannot be raised without either creating a looseness and irregularity in action, (as when two gears with long teeth intermatch,) or an une qual leverage, (as when a pin projects into a slot of the upperv gear.) In my case it matters not what position the rollers assume, the action is always the same and the leverage uniform and equal. There is no more strain when the rollers are separated than when they are in contact.

By making the driving-pinion A but half the size ot' the other gears I am enabled not only to obtain a greater leverage, and consequently greater ease in turning the crank, but with the usual speed of turning I attain a slower motion of the rollers.

In ordinary machines the operator, in feeding the clothes between the rollers and operating the crank at the same time, attains a cerA tain degree of speed of turning7 which it is difficult to modify or change. This speed gives too much action to the rollers, and the water is therefore frequently iinperfectly expressed, and the clothes are torn or injured.

I am aware of no other arrangement of gearing connected with a wringing-machine in which, with the ordinary speed of the crank, the speed ofthe rollers can be lessened.

It will be noticed that as the upper roller, B, is raised in the concentric slots k L it inclines back over the body of the tub or receptacle in Which are the clothes to be Wrung, as indicated by red lilies in Fig. 2. In this condition it is in the most convenient position for the entrance of the clothing between the rollers and for the escape of the 'expressed` Water. The greater the separation of the rollers the more is their inclination to the receptacle.

I am aware of no machine in which, as the rollers separate, they are made to assume an angular position for the free entrance of the articles to be acted on.

The case and plate D D are also provided with bearings m m at a suitable position on the outside, to which are jointed, by a rod, o, or equivalent, clamps Gr G, which hold the machine to the side of the tub or receptacle. These clamps are substantially of the form shown, and are tightened by means of buttons or Wedges p p, pivoted to a cross-piece, H, and turning down between the standards and clamps at the top. This arrangement enables me to tighten lthe clamps very etfectually, and obviates the use of metallic cams, Wed ges, and screws, as in ordinary devices.

What l claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination ofthe inclosin g-oase D, made up of the plate f and cover h, and provided with the concentric bearings la 7c, with the set of gearing 1 2 3 4 arranged as described, the whole used in connection with the rollers B B, substantially in the manner and for the purpose specified. 2. The tighteningbuttons or wedges p p, in combination with the clamps G G and standards A A, arranged and operating as set forth.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

HlRAM NASH.

Witnesses JOHN W. APPLEGATE, EDWIN C. WEAVER.. 

